Overseas Robocalls Could Soon Face ‘Border Patrol’ Before Reaching Your Phone

In February, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unveiled a proposal to tackle the bane of ringless voicemails—a particular type of robocalls that made up as many as 50 billion spam dials in 2021 alone.

Now, the agency is considering adopting new regulations that could see international scam calls being stopped at the border before they even reach your phone. 

In a vote this week, the FCC has decided to target illegal robocall campaigns that span the globe and enter American networks via gateway providers. 

According to CNET, these networks are smaller telecommunications companies that are used by foreign scammers to disguise phone calls entering the country. 

As such, the organization hopes to tackle the issue at the root by ensuring gateway providers verify phone calls before passing them on to other operators and onto customers’ phones. 

Among the various new rules, the aforementioned Gateway Provider Order will require operators to submit a certification and mitigation plan describing how they plan to tackle spam calls, with proof they are adhering to the outlined practices.

“Robocalls are aggravating,” said FCC Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel, summing up what we all feel every time we pick up a scam call. 

“What is worse is when we crack down on these junk calls, the scam artists behind them find new ways to reach us,” she continued. 

“Increasingly, that means robocalls are coming in from overseas. In fact, one study suggests that last year, as much as two-thirds of this stuff may now come from abroad,” Rosenworcel revealed, pledging to “get tough on international robocalls” by cutting them off “before they reach our shores, our homes, and our phones.” 

[via CNET and FCC, cover image via Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com]